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Penguin Windows agrees to change sales tactics

Although Penguin Windows denied any wrongdoing, the firm signed a settlement agreement this week with the state Attorney General’s Office and agreed to restrictions on its marketing tactics.

The agency accused Penguin of misrepresenting its products, making false claims about the energy savings customers would achieve, and misleading consumers into thinking that the in-home appointments they set up with Penguin were something other than sales calls.

The state’s lawsuit says Penguin’s ads, which claim that its windows would save homeowners at least 40 percent on their monthly heating and cooling bills, are false and that Penguin had no reasonable basis to support them. The agency alleged that the company’s practice of asking homeowners to sign a letter agreeing not to cancel the sale interferes with a law that gives customers three business days to cancel a sale made during an in-home presentation.

Penguin agreed to terms that include prohibiting it from:

• Making misrepresentations to gain entry into a home.

• Failing to substantiate advertising claims.

• Interfering with cancellation rights.

• Continuing in-home sales presentations after a customer has clearly stated that he or she wants it to end.

The agency agreed to suspend $25,000 in civil penalties if Penguin follows consumer protection laws in the future. The company will pay $95,000 in attorneys’ fees and legal costs.

The Mukilteo-based Penguin Windows also does business as Statewide Energy Systems, Statewide Home Improvement, Statewide Vinyl, Statewide Windows, and Statewide Window and Siding.

The case is similar to one the Attorney General’s Office settled in September 2009 with Evans Glass of Seattle.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..